A Guide to Becoming A Better Writer

Writing isn’t easy. At all. It’s difficult to transform your thoughts and feelings into coherent words that flow together and make sense to others. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact emotion you’re feeling into a conformed sentence. But no matter who you are, business owner, blogger, student, or just want to improve for yourself, I can assure you that these suggestions are only here to serve you.

1. Read more. I know that this is a turn-off to some, but the only way to grow as a writer is to read. Reading creates a different environment in your head and allows you to escape into that realm for a little while. You get to know the speaker’s voice and through that, you find your own. This also allows you to know what kind of style is more your aesthetic and style that just doesn’t work for you.

2. Pay attention to the details. One thing I’ve learned from being in writing classes in college is that it’s all about the little details. They may seem insignificant but these teeny tiny details are what make the character and story real. Little habits or someone’s favorite scent or what kind of emotion they feel towards a certain season speaks volumes for who they are.

3. Get feedback. The first thing I do when mustering up a poem, creating a story, or even just writing an essay, is send it to my best friends (who are writers as well). Hearing their feedback is super beneficial because it helps me get a sense of what the reaction would be if I published the piece to an audience. It’s also very helpful to get an insight of another person because they might have a different perspective or approach that will help your work grow stronger.

4. Write down ideas. When something genius comes to mind, you don’t have to immediately create it into something. In my opinion, nothing written is ever finished. There’s always room to branch off or improve or become something more. Whenever I get an idea, I make sure to write it in my phone notes. Just in case I’m busy in that moment, I have a documentation so I’m able to remember and I can always come back to.

5. Find a muse. You might not feel like you have anything to write about but there is a moving, alive, loud world around you. There is always something to write about. Go out and talk to a stranger, get to know them, and then write about them. Remember the details. Take notes. Read a book by an author you normally wouldn’t read. Take the story they wrote and turn it into your own, make a twist, kill off the favorite character, write a poem about the love between the villain and the hero. There are endless possibilities!

6. Just write. It doesn’t matter what you write about. Even if it’s about how your day went. I know it’s super overwhelming to see a blank sheet of paper or a blank screen in front of you but just think of that as a fresh start. You can say anything you want, you can do anything you want. The protagonist could be your alter ego, or some stranger you met at the grocery, or your favorite celebrity. The screen is your canvas. Once your fingers start moving, so does your brain, and it all just flows together. It doesn’t have to make sense at first. The important thing is that you’re writing, you’re getting it started.

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
― Ernest Hemingway